This is not just Putin’s war, but it is Russia’s Putin; therefore, it is the Russian people’s war on Ukraine. Most of them are just as responsible for the atrocities being committed as Putin.
This war wouldn’t have been possible without their apathy, willful ignorance, and deafening silence… or in some cases, as demonstrated by the march by Russians on March 9th in Washington, DC, Vienna, and other cities across the world, their full-throated support for killing Ukrainian civilians, kidnapping children, and committing war crimes.
The march was theoretically to commemorate “Victory Day,” when supposedly Soviet forces saved us all from Nazi Germany in World War II.
The Russian history they are taught conveniently leaves out the Molotov-Ribbentrop Agreement in 1939, which saw the USSR team up with Nazi Germany to invade Poland and kick off World War II.
In essence, the arsonists became the firefighters when the fire they set threatened their own homes and Nazi Germany turned on the Soviets.
As far as Russians are concerned, WW II only began when Hitler double-crossed Stalin and attacked the Soviets.
Willful ignorance. Something we sadly now know about here in the USA.
But I will never say a person’s place of birth or nationality condemns them to a fate or my disdain. In fact, when one stands up to face inevitable persecution, ridicule, and ostracism to stand on the right side of humanity, the opposite is true. I am in awe of their courage.
There are many Russians who fit this category, but none that I know so well as my pal Dima Dmitry Spirin from the punk rock band Tarakany!
Dima and I met on my only trip to Russia in 2010. We collaborated and released an English-language release, Tarakany – Russian Democrazy, for the USA in 2013. It was the best-selling physical release of Punk Outlaw Records ever.
Dima in Moscow, 2010
Much of Dima’s music can be found in Raw Travel l and appropriately enough, on the My Summer in Ukraine, documentary.
In late 2021 or early 2022, Dima was forced to leave Russia for his outspoken attitudes against Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Some of his former bandmates have gone the other way and are all in on Putin.
One colleague of ours, an American musician and former US Military Vet, Travis Leake is rotting away in a Russian prison as I type these words. He was arrested on some trumped-up drug charges. His actual crime was being an American who didn’t have the good sense to get out before Putin’s lackeys could pin something on him and use him as a hostage.
Thankfully, Dima did get out, and with a little help from me, he was able to resettle in Argentina, where I saw him a couple of months ago. He and his wife Tanya are doing well.
Rob, Dima and Tonya in Argentina
Due to his refugee status, he’s now embarking on a solo career and his first tour of Europe since the war. I hope to catch up with him at one of his shows. There is much more to Dima’s story; I hope to tell it someday.
The article linked was originally written in Russian, but can be translated into English and other languages by toggling the button at the top of the page.
I’ve often said courage is contagious. The Ukrainians I’ve met have emboldened me to be brave in ways I never knew I had in me. The same is true for Dima.
Thanks to people like Dima and others I know, I am inspired and hopeful that Russia can one day join the civilized world and people like Dima can lead it.
I hope you will read the article.
If you like good rock music, please check out Dima’s music. He’s not only brave but talented, hard-working, and obviously very principled.
We need more artists like Dmitry Spirin and fewer like Aaron Lewis or Roger Waters who have no clue what a guy like Dima has been through, yet ignorantly (or greedily, if they are getting paid, and they may be) use their platforms to embolden war criminals to murder innocent civilians.
If, like me, you admire Dima’s courage, please give him a like, a follow, a music download, or words of encouragement on his page.
Dima Spirin